This invention relates generally to electronic data cards and, more particularly, to a dust protection device for a PCMCIA card and socket especially suited for use in a harsh environment such as on-board a refuse collection vehicle.
The development of "credit card" size portable memory devices, such as those made in accordance with standards developed by the Personal Computer Memory Card International Association (PCMCIA), have enabled even greater flexibility in storing and transporting data than heretofore possible. One exemplary use for these data cards is in a vehicle on-board computer (OBC), and in particular, a refuse collection vehicle OBC wherein the card stores data such as route and weight information for later use by a central ground station computer in maximizing vehicle efficiency and automating customer billing procedures.
However, because PCMCIA cards and their peripheries have been developed, at least initially, for use in the relatively clean environments in which personal and laptop computers are typically used, they generally do not afford much protection for the fine pitch connector and socket that is often used to interface the card to the computer. Although this connection is usually made within an enclosed housing, the housing provides insufficient protection in dirty or dusty environments wherein dust and other airborne contaminants can be blown into the housing or otherwise carried in on a surface of a card as it is being inserted. These contaminants can collect on the socket connectors and thereby interfere with and degrade the integrity of sensitive electrical connections to the PCMCIA card.
The present invention provides a simple solution to this problem in the form of a compliant protective boot which fits around the PCMCIA card and receiving socket. The boot extends to the enclosed housing thereby substantially surrounding the card and socket within the housing. A pair of brushes extend toward one another within the boot to allow passage of the card therethrough while preventing the entrance of dust and other contaminants into the boot.
This invention thus enables application of PCMCIA cards in environments more harsh than those in which laptop and other such computers are typically used, such as in industrial and on-board vehicle applications. This thereby enhances the functionality and adaptability of such portable data cards. These and other features and advantages of the invention will become apparent upon review of the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.